Monitor: Michelko Signals Changes in Bill on Culture Support Fund

(RTVS, 'Sobotne dialogy', April 27) Coalition MP Roman Michelko (SNS) announced on RTVS' politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues) that the SNS-sponsored Act on Culture Support Fund will be changed, based on an agreement between coalition parties. Via the amending proposal, the coalition intends to hike finances for the fund and proposes also more extensive representation of regions in the Fund council. Opposition MP Zuzana Stevulova (PS), also on the show, responded that although such a development sounds good, PS will wait to see the final draft and adopt a stance afterwards. In addition, Michelko conceded that potential changes might yet be made to the bill on the NGOs, which plans to label every organisation receiving more than €5,000 annually from abroad as an "organisation with foreign support". He didn't specify any details, though, and claimed that it's necessary to analyse the decision of the European Court first so that the bill won't fly in the face of the European law, as the opposition had warned. Stevulova finds the bill unfixable and urged SNS to withdraw it from Parliament altogether. In her view, the proposal stands in the breach of the Slovak Constitution and stigmatizes NGOs. Stevulova perceives the proposal to oust Judicial Council members Andrej Majernik and Jan Mazak from the council as a political decision, as there are not sufficient reasons to justify the move. She also disagrees with the potential nomination of Stefan Harabin to the Judicial Council. "The harabinisation of the judiciary was the symbol of the darkest era," she claimed. Michelko is in favour of having Majernik and Mazak ousted, and he called Mazak an exceedingly untrustworthy person. The MP wasn't sure whether support will be found across the coalition for Harabin's nomination. He views Harabin as an expert on the criminal law, although he conceded that this expert is somewhat controversial. mf